DHAKA: The Italian navy said on Wednesday it had rescued nearly 600 migrants crossing the Mediterranean from Africa over the past 24 hours in an operation launched after two shipwrecks in which hundreds drowned.

‘The Navy has rescued 596 migrants on six vessels,’ including three rubber dinghies, it said in a statement, reports the BBC.

Italy began its operation ‘Mare Nostrum’, (Our Sea) a Latin reference to the Mediterranean, after more than 400 migrants from Eritrea and Syria perished in twin tragedies off Italian shores in October 2013.

Thousands of migrants are continuing to arrive on Italy’s shores every month despite rougher seas during winter when there is usually a let-up in landings.

BDST: 1739 HRS, FEB 26, 2014